A Portscatho man has been awarded a MBE in the New Year Honours list for services to physical education and sport in schools.

Dr Malcolm Tozer, aged 81, has worked and volunteered in the arena of education for nearly 60 years and his advocacy for improving physical health and education across the country has been his life's work.

He was educated at Sutton High School in Plymouth and the University of Birmingham before training as a physical education teacher at Loughborough University. His teaching career spanned 38 years at three schools in the East Midlands, 16 as headmaster.

His work promoting and supporting Physical Education started in 1966. He was appointed director of Physical Education at Uppingham School, an independent school in Rutland.

Dr Tozer’s passion, evident from his early work in the 1970s, as secretary and later chair of the Independent Schools Physical Education Conference, saw him promote best practice in teaching and curriculum scheduling.

He has been an advocate for improving physical health and education across the country and has volunteered in over 20 different positions to support his belief.

Dr Tozer’s efforts promoting the benefits, and the success of physical education as a regular aspect of school life led to PE becoming a core subject in the national curriculum. The MBE citation reads: “The impact this has had on countless pupils in education cannot be measured.”

Dr Tozer said: “My wife, Elizabeth, and I retired to Portscatho in 2005, a village that we knew well from school holidays.

“I have worked alongside many colleagues for more than 50 years to promote physical education and sport for pupils of all ages: initiating curriculum development, coaching athletics and organising championships, writing books and articles, creating training courses, and serving on and chairing national and regional committees.

“In retirement, I have continued to liaise with government departments and independent schools’ associations to foster partnerships in physical education and sport between state and independent schools for the benefit of all children.”